Question Si-Tech neck ring on Avatar Drysuit

[Narked_Muffin]

Hi all!

I have recently bought myself a new Avatar Drysuit which I am loving, it still amazes me how light and flexible the suit is, especially considering how tough it is too, I couldn't punch a hole in it if I tried! (Which I did try when fitting my tinkle valve, my heavy duty hole punches at work would barely scratch the surface)

Anyway, it comes with the Santi smart seals for the wrists which is great, but I was wondering about the possibility of fitting a neck ring system too sometime in the future as I've had some bad luck in the past with my old suit where I've torn my neck seal right before a dive...
By chance has anyone tried this already? I was looking into the Si-Tech quick neck system, but the inflator valve is rather close to the existing neck seal and it doesn't seem like there's enough room to fit the ring itself...

Any advice or info would be great!

Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[crofrog]

I have an avatar suit, and I have a DUI CF200 my experience with retrofitting the the si-tech ring to the DUI was it was a hassle and didn't work that great.

I've replaced the glue on the neck seal on the avatar once and a few other suits a few times, and it's honestly pretty quick to do once you understand the process. It's also more comfortable than the neck ring, from my perspective.

 

[Zef]

Its been done successfully by folks as a DIY project (not necessarily the same suit as yours though). Depending on where in France you are located, there is a shop just across the border in Belgium called Aquasub...the owner, Michele, is very adept at doing custom alterations to wet and drysuits. I would give him a call and discuss your concern and ask for a quote:

Ecole de plongée et vente de matériel à Basècles | Aquasub

Aquasub est une école de plongée ainsi qu’un magasin de matériel pour la pratique de la discipline installée à Basècles. Plongeurs rendez-vous à Aquasub !

aquasub.be

+32 475 92 97 68

-Z

Edit:
Je viens de voir, par votre post d'introduction, que vous etes dans le sud de la France. Appelle-le quand même....ça ne mange pas de pain.

 

[Narked_Muffin]

Its been done successfully by folks as a DIY project (not necessarily the same suit as yours though). Depending on where in France you are located, there is a shop just across the border in Belgium called Aquasub...the owner, Michele, is very adept at doing custom alterations to wet and drysuits. I would give him a call and discuss your concern and ask for a quote:

Ecole de plongée et vente de matériel à Basècles | Aquasub

Aquasub est une école de plongée ainsi qu’un magasin de matériel pour la pratique de la discipline installée à Basècles. Plongeurs rendez-vous à Aquasub !

aquasub.be

+32 475 92 97 68

-Z

Edit:
Je viens de voir, par votre post d'introduction, que vous etes dans le sud de la France. Appelle-le quand même....ça ne mange pas de pain.

Thanks for the info!

I was most likely going to DIY it as have spent enough time cutting and glueing fabrics in car interiors, so I feel confident enough to glue a ring to my drysuit
I was just wondering if anyone had attempted it before on an Avatar suit so I could maybe know for sure if it's possible before I buy the kit.

Either way I'm in no rush as I've only had the suit for 3 months, so no need to worry about changing seals just yet

Merci donc pour l'info, j'ai du mal à trouver des bons techniciens ici au sud, le dernier que j'ai vu pour réparer mon ancien combi ne voulait même pas le toucher et au prix que sa'alait me coûter c'était moins cher d'acheter un autre

 

[happy-diver]

Yeah what's the suit made of Superman fabric, where are your pictures

 

[Narked_Muffin]

Yeah what's the suit made of Superman fabric, where are your pictures

View attachment 804160

Maybe not quite superman, but whatever it is its tougher than it looks!

As for pictures, here's the suit itself

And here you can see on the inside how both the inflator valve and zip are already practically touching the original neck seal

 

[Zef]

Domage.

I think it is possible to glue, but you will not have much margin for error. Perhaps the small amount of space will aid the installation. You might struggle with the neoprene neck cover but it's still possible to do this. I would email your pictures and explanation to Michele at Aquasub and see what he has to say. Their is also another shop in Belgium called Globe Marine, they have an older woman, Martine, who specializes in wet/drysuit alterations and repair, I recommend calling them as an alternative.

-Z

 

[Deezer-D]

It can be done.

 

[Narked_Muffin]

Domage.

I think it is possible to glue, but you will not have much margin for error. Perhaps the small amount of space will aid the installation. You might struggle with the neoprene neck cover but it's still possible to do this. I would email your pictures and explanation to Michele at Aquasub and see what he has to say. Their is also another shop in Belgium called Globe Marine, they have an older woman, Martine, who specializes in wet/drysuit alterations and repair, I recommend calling them as an alternative.

-Z

Thanks again for the input, I'll definately get in contact with them!

It can be done.

thanks for the link!
Good to see it can be done, but it looks like they did have some issues as she points out that the ring had to be mounted underneath the inflator! I wonder how well it seals after that...